Finding a Home
by Kelly Frock
Summary: Shawna came on the bus from Woodbury to join the prison group. A bit of a loner, she makes acquaintances with the new group. She is hoping for friendships. Follow her new life in the prison. Set just after season 3 before season 4 begins. If there are any similarities with the beginning of season 4 to this story, it is strictly coincidental. OC and Walking Dead group story, so far.
1. Chapter 1

Shawna stood just inside the doorway of the room. She looked around where the group had put them. There were bars and gates all around. It was drab and gray. She was trading one secluded area for another. That's how people had to live in the world after the outbreak. Instead of those monsters being imprisoned, caged, or locked up, the people, the living, were now the minority that had to isolate themselves from the rest of the world just to keep alive. It may have been a prison, but it felt safe. It felt safer than what she had left. Woodbury had fallen.

The governor was gone. They all knew it. The people of Woodbury, the ones that came with the sheriff, knew their leader had cracked and left them. It seemed, if someone stayed alive long enough in this new world of infinite horror, they were bound to lose their mind. It was just a matter of time if that person would snap out of it or die. Shawna had already been crazed once. She survived it. Now, she was trying to stay alive and keep moving forward.

"You a'right?" a male voice said just to her right. Shawna looked over to see a guy standing there with a crossbow slung on his shoulder. He looked rough but there was softness to his voice and in his eyes. "Ma'am, are you okay?" He looked somewhat familiar but she knew she had never seen him before.

"Yeah, I'm okay, now," Shawna answered. The man nodded and moved on to see if others were okay as well. Everyone was off the bus now and into the facility. They were all gathered in what was once the cafeteria she supposed. Shawna walked further into the room somewhat away from her group towards the wall. She liked keeping her back to the wall. It was something solid. Something the biters couldn't come through. All the other people were in front of her.

Shawna saw the sheriff enter the room across from her speaking with some his people. He was talking to a lady with short graying hair and pointing to an area. Shawna couldn't hear what he was saying so she looked in the direction he was pointing. It was towards a cellblock behind a gate. She swallowed hard. Were they going to be this group's prisoners? The lady was nodded her head as Shawna looked back at her in understanding of what the sheriff was telling her.

The sheriff addressed the group standing on a set of stairs to the left of the entrance. "Can I have everyone's attention, please?" he projected across the crowd. "My name is Rick. I just want to say welcome. We will make the most of the room we have available to us, for all of us. This lady here is Carol," he said as he pointed out the lady he had spoken with just a moment before. "She will be assigning you beds. Please listen to her so we can get everyone settled in. Thank you." Rick then walked down the steps and out the gated doorway. The guy with the crossbow followed him.

Carol then stood on the stairs. "Hello, everyone, I'm Carol." She was a soft spoken lady. "I guess, we'll start with families first so you all stay together. If I could have the families of three or more line up here we'll get you situated first. The rest of you just hold tight. There is some drinking water over there." She pointed to a wall that had one of those orange coolers that you used to see at construction sites sitting on a cage on legs. Shawna surmised that it was once for the prison guards' weapons or perhaps it was for the inmates flatware with guards standing by making sure no one took extras for later. A small line of people walked over to the cooler that were not with families. A small group of people lined up in front of Carol. Everyone else seemed to huddle in the middle of the room except for Shawna.

She sat on the floor with her backpack near the wall away from everyone. She wasn't thirsty and she had no family, not anymore. There weren't a lot of families anymore. Most people who had survived this long were now alone. The mention of family brought back sad memories. She unzipped a small pocket on the front of her backpack and took out a photograph. It was a picture of a man and a small girl. Shawna choked back the tears that threatened to spill onto her cheeks. She swallowed hard, clenched her jaw and put the picture back into the pocket. After she zippered the pocket closed she looked up to find Carol standing on the stairs again. It hadn't taken long for her to house the larger families.

"Okay, folks, I would like to have any families of two," she said. Again, a small group stood before her. She took them to the cellblock. Shawna noticed a young blonde lady helping Carol. She was carrying bags of the ones who were being escorted to their cell. Shawna clutched her bag closer to herself. She didn't want anyone touching the only belongings she had left.

In this stage of the nightmare, you packed light. In Shawna's case, she had packed really light because when the horror began she couldn't carry much. At first, it was difficult for Shawna to get around being almost 250 pounds. She had lost about 30 pounds, maybe more, from running for her life. When her own food ran out, she relied on others or whatever she could scavenge herself. It hadn't been long after her arrival to Woodbury that someone claimed she had stolen food. Shawna would never do that. Just because someone is overweight does not mean they will eat everything in sight. It was not in her nature to take food away from other people, especially when she knew children needed it more than she. She had been punished anyway for theft. Since that incident, she stayed away from the food stores and the gardens. She even asked the governor, back when he seemed to have a head on his shoulders, to change her tasks within the isolated town. She was put in charge of sorting and organizing the ammunition. She had her own guards. It was a comfortable position. She felt useful. Now, it was starting over again with a new group. Would they accuse her of stealing food too, if it went missing? What use could she be for them?

"I assume the rest of you are by yourselves?" It was Carol again. "Please, follow me." The rest of the group, which was the largest of the three groups, followed Carol. Shawna grabbed her backpack and stood up from the floor to join the group. They headed towards the gate. "You'll need to be paired up. There are two beds to a cell," Carol informed them as they walked pass the others already in their cells. Shawna glanced in to one cell and saw Teresa and her son settling into their cell. She smiled at them. Teresa smiled weakly back. It was difficult to smile in this new world. There weren't many happy moments.

"I think it will be a good idea to have the older folks closer to the main room and on bottom bunks. The younger folks can fill in top bunks and further along. That way if anything should happen, the younger ones can defend the group," Carol surmised as she stopped along the corridor in front of an empty cell. She gestured towards it. The older people in the group made their way to the front. After some brief chatter amongst themselves, two people entered, one older, one younger. It proceeded in much the same way until the group only contained those under the age of 50 years old. Carol then thought it was in the best interest to put the stronger people further along and on the second level. Shawna took a quick look around and counted who was left. There was an odd number.

"Wait!" Carol said suddenly. Everyone stopped and looked confused. Carol counted the people again. She then looked down the row of cells that had already been filled. "I need a single person to be in this cell. Anyone want to volunteer?" she asked the group.

"I will," Shawna spoke up. It was the cell at the end of the second floor. Carol said they would house one of their people in the cell with Shawna. She didn't have many friends in Woodbury after the food occurrence, so it didn't matter to her. She pushed her way through the group to make her way into the cell. "Thank you," Carol said.

"Sure," Shawna replied.

"You're name?" Carol asked just as Shawna was about to walk through the cell doorway. Shawna turned back to look at her suspiciously. "We're just trying to get to know everyone. This is Beth," Carol said indicating the young blonde lady standing beside her. Beth smiled.

"I'm Shawna. Glad to meet you." She nodded to them and turned to enter again. She thought of something else and turned back to the two ladies once again, "And thank you. Seriously, thank you for accepting us in here."

"You're welcome," Carol said with a smile. Shawna stepped inside her cell, alone. Maybe Carol would be her new roommate? She didn't know at that point. She didn't even think Carol knew who Rick would put in the cell with her.

Shawna placed her backpack under the bottom bunk. She knew anyone that roomed with her would feel safer if she were on the bottom. Even if it was one of the guys, they all seemed to be fit from what she could see from the bus window. Besides, she wasn't fond of heights. There were only the bunks. There wasn't a blanket, sheet or pillow. Shawna sat down on the cot looking around her new home. It was small. She couldn't imagine being imprisoned here with another person for an extended amount of time. She had never been one for breaking the law or spending any time in jail. She was a good person. The worst she had ever done was call her boss a bitch to her face and promptly quit. That was before the outbreak. Now, if the law had been withstanding, she could be arrested for stealing, carjacking, and murder, only if killing a zombie was considered murder. She had never killed a living person.

As she looked around she found some tally marks on the wall. She stood up to see them closer. The marks were towards the back corner. Above the ticks was a title, "Turned." Whoever had lived in this cell kept a record of those who had turned. On closer examination, there were two groups. It looked like inmates and guards. It had looked like the guards had turned first because the group of tallies had twenty-five ticks. The inmate list had fewer. Now whether that was the case or whether the inmate in this cell turned before completing the list is unknown. Shawna looked down and received her answer. There was a bloody handprint on the wall. She stepped back slowly.

"Everything okay?" a female voice said from the doorway. Shawna spun on the spot. It was Carol. She was carrying a pile of blankets and sheets. Beth had a stack of pillows.

"Uh, yeah," Shawna said slowly shaking her head a bit to bring herself back to reality. She took a second glance at the handprint on the wall then back to Carol and Beth.

"Here is some bedding for you. We'll leave another set on the other bunk. It may not be the cleanest but it is something," Carol informed her. "Rick also wanted me to inform everyone they will be giving jobs to those who are capable. There will be cooking, cleaning, and watches to do. You'll be assigned later."

"I don't want cooking," Shawna said immediately.

"Why not?" Carol asked taken aback at the abrupt response.

"I was once accused of stealing food in Woodbury," Shawna explained, "The others wouldn't think it wise to put me on kitchen duty." Carol looked uneasy as Shawna's words came off crudely. She took in Shawna's girth and then understood. Shawna saw the understanding in her face. "I was accused. I never did the crime," Shawna informed her boldly.

"Okay," Carol replied, "I will let Rick know. Your name is Shawna, correct?"

"Yes."

Carol nodded. "Take a sheet, a blanket, and a pillow," she instructed. Shawna took what was offered from each pile.

"Thank you," Shawna said more calmly as she set them on her cot. The 'thank you' was more for the understanding of not wanting kitchen duty rather than the bedding but it sufficed for both.

"Could you take another set and place them on the other cot?" Carol asked her.

"Of course," Shawna said quickly taking another set. She placed them on the top bunk.

"Someone will be back with your assignment," Carol said. "Do you have any weapons on you?" she asked abruptly.

"I have a hunting knife," Shawna answered hesitantly.

"Good." At first, Shawna thought they were going to confiscate her weapon but was relieved that they did not take it. "You never know when you will need it. We also just want to see what sort of weapons everyone has to defend themselves with. We have weapons, but not a lot to spare. You may get another weapon depending on your duties, especially if you are keeping watch."

"Okay," Shawna answered as she started to unfold her sheet to spread on her cot.

"We'll let you all know when dinner will be after everyone has received their tasks. You are free to walk about this cellblock and the room where you entered, but not anywhere else," Carol said.

Shawna nodded her head in understanding. Carol and Beth moved on to the next cell which was down the block. There were a few empty cells between her cell and the next one that housed people from Woodbury. Shawna figured they were for the established group. She finished making up her cot and just sat down to take in her new surrounds.

Sounds echoed. Everyone from Woodbury was whispering. Even the whispers echoed. Nothing was clearly audible. It was all white noise. It was almost peaceful. Only this new world would never be peaceful. You were always watching your back for those hideous beasts that wanted to gnaw on your flesh.

Shawna laid down on her bottom bunk. She stared up at the bunk above her and listened. She didn't listen to white noise going on around her. She listened further on for the guttural sounds of the undead, the gurgles, groans and moans. She thought she faintly heard them and hoped she was safe enough. To be sure she shut the door to the cell. Fatigue was setting in as her body finally relaxed as she laid down on the bunk again. For a while, Woodbury had made her uptight. The feud between the two groups was felt by everyone, even those not closely involved. The soft noise continued and it wasn't long before Shawna drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Something touched her! Her instant thought was a biter had gotten into her cell. Immediately, Shawna grabbed her hunting knife out its sheath along her belt. She jumped out of her cot to try to get away from the biter. It came closer. The dark figure loomed before her in the fading light. She swung her hand with the knife in it. A hand grabbed her wrist and pinned it to her side as it came forward. Another dark figure emerged from behind the first one. Shawna gasped. There were two of them! She would fight for her life. She tried to swing her other hand just to try to punch it. Her fist was quickly grasped and pinned as well. She closed her eyes to avoid seeing gnashing teeth as she fought to get free of the grip. Then a voice sounded.

"Whoa! Whoa!" the male voice said calmly. Shawna kept fighting, not registering the voice. He said slowly and clearly, "I am not a walker!"

Shawna gasped and stopped fighting. She opened her eyes and was now able to focus on the two persons that had entered her cell. Rick had pinned her down arms down.

"I'm sorry," she apologized as she eased the tension in her muscles. "I thought . . . just a reaction," she stammered as her body finally woke up from the deep sleep she had been in. She took a profound breath and eased into a normal rhythmic pattern with each abiding breath. The adrenaline started to subside.

The guy with the crossbow was standing behind Rick. His eyes were furrowed. Rick's eyes were wide. His reaction to her fight or flight mode was the result of his years being a police officer. Once Rick heard Shawna's breathing return to normal his gaze softened as he kept his eyes on her. He kept his hands on her wrists. Embarrassment set in on Shawna. It was not a good first impression with these people. She lowered her head.

"Damn. Looks like we have ourselves one hell of a fighter," the crossbow guy said with a smirk. Rick chuckled a bit and eased his grip on her wrists but did not let go.

"Are you okay, now?" Rick asked Shawna seriously. She nodded still looking down. Rick let go of her wrists completely and offered her a hand. "I'm Rick. This is Daryl." Shawna took his hand to shake.

"I'm Shawna," she said. She finally looked up at the two men in front of her through her veil of brown tresses. "You're Daryl? Merle's brother?" she asked.

"Yeah," Daryl said squinting at her. "You got a problem with that?"

"No," she answered shortly. There was an awkward silence as Rick looked back and forth at the two of them. She remembered Merle, the womanizing creep who never gave her the time of day because she wasn't cute and petite. She was glad. She only wondered how much Daryl would be like Merle.

"We didn't mean to wake you," Rick said breaking the tension. "I know how precious that kind of sleep is worth. We were just coming by to ask what your job was when you were in Woodbury."

"I was in charge of ammunition. I sorted it and kept a running inventory. I handed it out when it was needed."

"Hmm, not much use for that here," Rick said then looked at Daryl, "Maybe we should make that a new job?"

"Do ya know how to shoot?" Daryl asked Shawna dodging Rick's question.

"I do. I'm better with a rifle than with a handgun," Shawna replied confidently.

"We'll see about that," Daryl said with a cocked eyebrow.

"Are you going to waste ammunition trying to find out who can shoot or not?" Shawna asked a bit puzzled.

"Ya get one shot," Daryl informed her.

"One shot to prove myself? I can do that but there are others that won't be able to do it on the first shot but they are still good shooters," Shawna replied, "Most of the better shooters are dead."

"You're talkin' about that group the governor took out that never came back? You sound like someone he needed for that group," Rick spoke.

"Like I said, I was in charge of the ammunition. If I went out, there would have been looting in the ammunition stores," Shawna explained. "We were all scared. We were told you all wanted us dead. We were put into fight mode. We were on the verge of fighting amongst ourselves."

Rick looked over at Daryl then back to Shawna.

"Carol said that you were accused of stealing food from Woodbury?" Rick started. "Is that going to be a problem here?"

"I told Carol I was accused. I NEVER took anything," Shawna stated forcefully. She clenched her jaw shaking her head. "Yes, I served time for the theft but I was wrongly accused. Look at me! Do I look like I'm wasting away? I could stand to lose a meal or two."

Rick looked Shawna in the eyes trying to distinguish fact from fiction. She returned the stare hoping he would see the truth.

"Alright," he said, "I don't see it being a problem then."

"I appreciate you trusting me," she told Rick. He nodded.

"You are going to go with Daryl here," Rick began, "He's going to see you shoot. Technically, you are not going to waste any ammo. You're going to take down a walker outside in the yard. Once we know how you shoot, you will either be an indoor guard or outside guard. To tell you the truth, you really impressed me by the way you tried to cut me with that knife of yours. Your instincts are just fine," he finished with a smile.

"Thanks," Shawna returned. Rick and Daryl moved out of the cell. She just noticed that her blade was still in her hand. She placed it in her sheath.

"I'm going to continue down the block," Rick said to Daryl, "Why don't you take Shawna out and see what she can do?" Daryl just nodded. He looked at her standing in her cell. She was pulling her hair back into a pony tail.

"Comin'?" Daryl asked.

She nodded. "Yeah," she said as she exited her cell.

The two walked out of the cellblock into the main room. They passed by the established group of the prison who looked up when Daryl and Shawna walked through. Shawna tried to smile and nod at them but only Carol returned the gesture. They went back to talking amongst themselves once they were near the doorway that led to outside.

Once outside, one could hear the guttural sounds of the walking dead around the prison. It was still somewhat disturbing to Shawna. She didn't think she would ever get used to that sound. Maybe that was a good thing because that meant she was always aware that they were there. If she became too numb to the sound, she could, and would most likely, end up dead.

Daryl had grabbed a rifle on his way out. Along with the crossbow slung on his back, he had a pistol stuck into the front of his pants. They went up to the guard tower. An Asian guy and a thin brunette turned to look at them as they reached the top. Daryl nodded to them.

"Newbie?" the Asian man said indicating Shawna with a nod in her direction.

"Yup," Daryl answered shortly.

"My name is Shawna," the woman said.

"Glenn," the man answered. He indicated the woman beside him, "This is Maggie."

"Hi," Shawna said to Maggie. Maggie just smiled awkwardly. Daryl handed Shawna the rifle.

"Are you any good?" Maggie asked Shawna.

"Shooting?" she asked, then shrugged. "That's what I'm here to prove."

Glenn raised his eyebrows. She positioned the rifle snug to her shoulder while supporting the barrel with her left hand. Her right hand held the grip. She slipped her index finger onto the trigger lightly and rested there.

"Which one?" she asked as she was trying out the site on the gun. Daryl looked around at the meandering walkers.

"Blue shirt," he answered pointing at the appropriate undead person walking about twenty feet outside the fence. Before Daryl could put his hand down the shot rang out and the walker dropped to the ground. Glenn's mouth fell open.

"Damn," Daryl uttered. He kept an eye on it just to make sure it stayed down. It never rose again.

Shawna cleared the chamber and handed the rifle back to Daryl.

"Nice shot," Maggie said. Daryl took the rifle and started for the exit.

"Thank you, Maggie," Shawna said with a quick smile before following Daryl.

Once on the ground Daryl and Shawna made their way back to the prison building. They walked in silence. Then he spoke up suddenly, "Where did you learn to shoot like that?"

"My ex-husband," Shawna answered. "He was a gun fanatic. He collected them. He took me out to a shooting range a few times and showed me how to operate a gun. I had told him if they were going to be in the house, I wanted to know how to use one in case of an emergency."

"Did he hunt?" Daryl asked.

"No," Shawna answered.

"Just collected?"

"Yes."

"Is he dead?" She looked at him from the side. He kept his gaze straight. She looked forward again.

"Not by me. And I wouldn't know. We were divorced before this epidemic. I haven't spoken to him in eight years." Her tone was finite. There was silence again.

Once they were back inside Daryl went straight for the table where most of the prison group sat. Shawna didn't know whether to follow him so she hung back at the doorway. She could see him talking in a hushed voice with them. An older man was the first to look her way. He began speaking with Daryl. It was a bit awkward having eyes looking at her. Usually if Shawna had this many eyes staring it would have been a group of skinny bitches with disgusted looks. Now, it was different because she had impressed them. Daryl waved her over. It was Rick who addressed her when she joined them.

"We take shifts in pairs. You will be with Daryl. I'm telling you now because your shift starts soon," he informed her. "You two get something to eat and then you can go."

The sun had just completely set. Darkness was taking over. There was minimal lighting in the prison. It cast a dull glow to the gray walls. Shawna gathered up a plate of food. Seeing as there were no free tables, she took to sitting against the wall just where she had when she entered earlier that day. She was used to sitting alone. It surprised her that Daryl got up from the prison group table and moved towards her.

"You don't have to sit here," she began, "I know you would rather sit with your friends. It's okay. I'm used to it." He didn't say anything. He only had one thing in his hand, the rifle from earlier. He set it down beside her then returned to the table. She had only speculated that he wanted to sit with her. She hung her head. Now she felt like an idiot. Shawna pushed her food around her plate feeling the embarrassment engulf her. She decided just to eat, do her duties, and keep her stupid mouth shut.

As she sat there eating, many sets of feet walked passed her but she never looked up. Everyone was coming and going since it was dinner time. She never even noticed that a set of feet had stopped beside her. She had almost finished when a body slid down the wall and sat next to her.

"You done yet?" Daryl's voice asked. Shawna's breath caught in her throat. He had caught her off guard. She didn't know if he was being serious or joking. She turned to look at him over her right shoulder. He wore a sly smile.

"No," she answered curtly and put a spoonful of food in her mouth.

"I had a friend once," Daryl began. Shawna really wanted to say something sarcastic but resisted the urge. She just sat there chewing her food. "He was big boy. He could pack some food away. He was always the first person done eatin'." Shawna knew he was trying to be friendly. She swallowed.

"For one, I'm not your friend nor am I boy," she stated, "And I'm hardly packing away the food." She took her last bite and began to gather her dishes for those who had kitchen duty.

"You could be," Daryl said flatly. Shawna had been ready to stand up but turned towards him instead with a scowl on her face.

"Excuse me?" She had really thought he was trying to get on her good side but it seemed like she was wrong. He was beginning to sound like Merle. Daryl did not flinch when he saw the look on her face.

"A friend," he simply stated. They stared at each other for what seemed like minutes. Daryl jumped up. "Come on. We gotta go."

With clenched teeth, Shawna stood. She dropped off her dishes to the kitchen staff and went to pick up her rifle. Fortunately for her, Daryl was right behind her with it in his hand. She looked into his eyes and just took the rifle. They didn't say anything as they went off to their post.


End file.
